


fate by any other name would be as sweet

by nogenderplant



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Agender Character, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Aromantic, Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, Found Family, Gay Character, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Other, Polyamorous Character, Queerplatonic Relationships, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, agender doyoung, aroace character, demiboy yuta, genderfluid jungwoo, gross parents, multiple pronouns, nb renjun, they're all just really gay, they/them pronouns, trans author, trans kun, transphobic language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28583805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nogenderplant/pseuds/nogenderplant
Summary: starting at a new school in a foreign country definitely could have been worse but this wasn’t exactly high up on the list of ‘great ways to end up in a foreign country.’
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Nakamoto Yuta, Huang Ren Jun & Qian Kun, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Kim Jungwoo, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Kim Jungwoo/Lee Taeyong, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong, Kim Jungwoo/Lee Taeyong
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey, so i wrote this a Hot minute ago and have been editing it since i don't want all this work to go to waste. i hope you enjoy!
> 
> taeyong: he/him  
> kun: he/him  
> ten: he/him  
> yuta: he/they  
> doyoung: they/them  
> jungwoo: they/them  
> renjun: she/they
> 
> ෴ means that a deadname is being spoken

starting at a new school in a foreign country definitely could have been worse but this wasn’t exactly high up on the list of ‘great ways to end up in a foreign country.’ taeyong had finally found the courage to come out to his family and now he was on the opposite side of the world starting at some random college for his third year rather than continuing at the university he had not only been at for the past two years but that he had also worked his ass off to get into. because that’s what good parents do, right? ship their children off to far away places the minute they reveal that they aren’t straight. it couldn’t have even been a close country either. no, it just had to be on the _other_ side of the pacific ocean. _fan-fucking-tastic._

it would have been one thing if they had asked him if he wanted to do an exchange program for a term or so as some kind of surprise gift for his achievements. yet here he was, being forced across a fucking ocean or he could say goodbye to any and all financial support his parents were giving him. _thanks a lot, mom and dad._ if they were really so determined to send him away, couldn’t it have been to, like, japan or something? they had already forced him to learn both english and japanese in school and he was definitely more confident in the latter thanks to a smattering of japanese exchange students. 

taeyong did have some hope though, he was going to college in america, and there have to be gay people in american college that he can be friends with, right?

kun looked in the mirror with disgust. no matter how he pulled his shirt he could still see the lumps of his chest. tired of looking at his chest, kun pulled his sweatshirt on and adjusted his beanie before walking out of the bathroom and into the kitchen for breakfast. 

“෴! get that gross sweatshirt off and change into some proper clothes! and take off that dumb hat while your at it!” kun looked his mom in the eye before walking back up to his room and changing into one of the many skirts and blouses that made his life hell. 

waking up, ten looked around. _another party._ checking his phone, he saw that it was only five in the morning-- long enough for him to go home and get ready for another day of the torture and pointless detainment he suffered through in the name of education. 

slowly, ten moved off the couch, careful not to step on anything or one. walking home was easy for him: down the block, turn right, go down to the next street and then sneak into the third house on the left. if he was lucky his step-dad would be gone when he got there but since when has he ever been lucky? 

opening the door as quietly as possible, ten began to creep up the stairs only to hear the water running in the shower. _damn it_. sneaking into his room, he began to pull out a shirt and jeans that looked good enough together before laying them on his desk and sitting down on his bed while waiting for his step-dad to be done with his shower. 

yuta sighed as soon as the hot water hit his aching muscles. their early morning practice was beginning to take its toll; hours of homework at night mixed with his poor sleeping skills and then having to wake up at four thirty and having to be in the studio by five, they were probably only getting about four and a half to five hours of sleep a night. sighing once again, he wished for nothing more than to continue standing there letting the water wash away the pain. 

knowing that their time was up, yuta turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. getting dressed, he pulled on the uniform and left for hours of classes that they were probably going to sleep through. again.

an “amen” resounded around the table as soon as doyoung’s family finished praying. quickly they began to dig into their breakfast, the eggs and toast rapidly disappearing off their plate. putting their plate in the sink, they quickly ran to their room and began to get ready for their classes. they may have had at least two hours until their first lecture but their parents didn’t need to know that. as soon as they were finished, doyoung grabbed their bag and ran out the door-- quickly yelling a last minute “goodbye” to their parents. 

arriving in the courtyard, doyoung immediately got out their phone and opened instagram. they scrolled through the likes and comments, replying to the best of their ability. each person asking for more about the mysterious doi. 

  
looking into the mirror, jungwoo finished putting on their light makeup. they smoothed out their skirt and readjusted their beanie one last time before flashing a small smile at themself. moving out of the bathroom, jungwoo walked into their room and picked up their bag and phone. looking through their notifications they smiled seeing a message from doi. 

_doi: morning!_

_jungwoo: hey, what’s up?_

rejun watched as kun went running by them, anger swimming in his eyes. they had heard what their mother had yelled, causing them to pick anxiously at the clear nail polish that kun had helped them put on the night before. walking into their brother’s room they pulled him into a hug, quietly apologizing for the cruelty of their parents. 

sadly, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to the two of them. renjun wanted to cry for her brother and the unfairness that he had to deal with. she thought that she had it easier: growing out her hair was fairly easy because her parents didn’t pay attention to the fact that it had been almost six months since her last haircut, and the small things like the clear nail polish and kun’s old necklaces were easy enough to hide-- easy enough that she was never yelled at or caught by their parents.


	2. Chapter 2

one large apartment with a single resident. _what a homey feeling._

maneuvering through the many piles of boxes, taeyong moved towards his bedroom. the room was huge, though rather empty with only a bed frame and mattress sitting against the far wall. however, it wouldn’t stay that way for long. with all of his boredom on the plane ride, he had asked his parents to send him the dimensions of his new room so that he could begin designing and not have to worry about it later. lucky enough for him, his parents had sent his aforementioned bed as well as some of his other belongings to his new home ahead of time-- a gesture which was deeply appreciated by the teenager. 

continuing on, he headed towards the left corner before setting down the box that he had been carrying. the box was mainly filled with small knick-knacks that would need to be placed on his bookshelf and dresser as soon as they were delivered… after he called saying that he was ready for the delivery. _thank the universe for ikea._

in all honesty, he had been putting the task off, actually, he had been putting all of his tasks off. that small box had been the first one he had moved since he had got there over a day ago. begrudgingly, he decided that the procrastination had lasted long enough. walking back out of his room, he moved to where his phone was lying on the ground charging before picking it up and dialing the number for ikea. after a few painful minutes of human interaction, taeyong was released with the lady on the phone saying that his order was on its way and would be delivered shortly. 

sure enough, it was. he had just finished his second hour of youtube when there was a knock on his door. pausing the show, he got up and answered the door, moving aside to let the delivery people in. as soon as the trips had started, they ended. double checking that they were done, taeyong shut the front door and walked back to his room. now looking at the room it gave off a more sad feeling. being filled with furniture-- most incomplete and waiting to be put together, the room was complete yet it lacked the feeling of life. _guess it’s time to get to work._

the books were going to take the longest to put away. a tedious and disheartening task but a necessary one. however, before he could even start worrying about the books themselves, the bookcase needed to be built; a task taeyong knew was going to take a fair amount of time. going back for his phone, taeyong placed his music on shuffle and set to work. 

one whole playlist later and he was finished with the case. reluctantly, taeyong headed towards the books. the first box wasn’t too bad, just a mixed mess of books that taeyong knew were going to have to be organized _after_ they were all put into the bookcase. after almost an hour of placing and organizing books, taeyong realized he was done. _one task down, a whole lot more to go._

➤➤➤ 

taking a shower was probably one of the hardest things that kun did on a daily basis. sure, there were ways he could try to lessen his dysphoria, trick himself into thinking that his body was the way he wanted it to be. but after getting caught the first time with the towel around his waist and a second towel draped across his shoulders, he couldn’t risk it again. 

it was a very vivid memory that he had tried to repress time and time again. he remembered the way that his mother shrieked. the way that his father immediately covered his eyes as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have. he had wanted to die right then, their reactions had been bad enough but the words that would follow made kun wish that god themself would strike him down. 

kun had cried that morning. he had finally found a way to make himself slightly happy when taking showers and he had lost it. the shame and general sadness had hit after that. his anger at his parents for being transphobic. his anger at the world for not understanding that he was a real person too. all of it came out in red, hot, angry tears. 

kun had given them silence for a week after that. not that they cared or noticed. they just thought that he was being his normal, quiet self. but renjun had noticed, the kid came into his room every night for the whole week until they were convinced that he was okay. 

they were a strong point for him, someone he could always talk to. it didn’t matter that they were younger than him, only that they cared. hell, walking to school with his little sibling was the best part of everyday to him. 

in that small bit of time they were free to talk about whatever they wanted, not worried about the prying ears of parents. renjun would show him the new nail polish that she had applied the day before and he would show her the new hairstyle he was considering. it was good. until now. 

kun felt his knees scrape the concrete. he heard renjun cry out in fear. he heard the laughing of teenagers behind him. “look who it is, it and that. walking to school talking about this stupid _thing’s_ nail polish. how disgusting.” 

how his peers had found out about him was a mystery but nothing new. renjun, on the other hand was supposed to be safe. _jun was supposed to be safe._

one of them grabbed his face, forcing him to look up at all of them. “do you want us to give you a haircut? would that make you feel better?” the hand moved from his chin to his ponytail, giving it a hard pull. he heard the sound of scissors being opened and closed rapidly. he saw renjun crying as they tried to escape from the teens holding them back, their cries soon muffled by a hand held over their mouth. 

“stop. please. leave us alone.” 

“and why should we do that?” kun looked the leader hard in the eye, ready to respond but he was interrupted. 

“because if you don’t not only will you get your asses kicked but i wouldn’t mind telling the dean either.” they all turned and looked at the newcomer, his accent and strange pronunciations giving away that he was a foreigner. the leader paused for a second, thinking. “whatever. let’s go, we have better things to do than mess with these two.” 

kun was thrown against the ground again, renjun not far behind. the foreigner moved out of the way allowing them all to leave before moving over and helping the two up. 

“i’m taeyong,” he introduced. “and you are?” 

renjun gestured to herself, “i’m renjun and this is-” 

kun cut them off, “i’m ෴ but you can call me k.” jun turned and looked at him but didn’t say anything. 

“well it’s nice to meet the two of you.” he held out his arm and gestured towards the direction that they had been previously headed. “shall we?” 

renjun smiled, “we shall!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just pretend that's how ikea works


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for ten's step-dad being a shitty person and parent

_he had moved in three months ago. it had been three months of constant comments about how ten wasn't “manly enough.” three months of hearing slurs on the regular. but now they were getting married. his beautiful mother was marrying an asshole and there was nothing he could do to stop it._

_ten knew that it was wrong, that rob had no right to make him feel as uncomfortable as he did. he knew that he should have told someone-- done something. he had wanted to, he had wanted to tell someone with all of his being but he couldn't because, somehow, that disgusting man was able to bring a smile to his mother's face that ten hadn't seen since a year before his parents had divorced._

_how he missed the days before that year. the smiles his parents would share, the laughs that fill the house, the love that they would spread. it was all gone now-- as if those times had never existed to begin with. _

_in place of that he had rob. a man who sat in a recliner, yelled at the tv and drank until he passed out. a man who made his mother smile yet treated ten like shit behind her back. a disgusting monster of a human. a piece of shit who was meant to be his dad._

_their honeymoon had just ended and with some power of the devil rob had been able to convince ten’s mother that he and fourteen year old ten should go out for the weekend. the weekend had been a nightmare for ten. rob had not held back during their time together. the slurs increased. the comments tripled._

_so many moments where ten had wanted to burn his skin off and bleach his memory. to just make it all go away. the man was shameless. ten’s body, personality, behavior, everything seemed to be fair play to this man. nothing was ever left without a comment._

_ten’s night out had been the worst though. it was a friday night and a new movie had just come out the night before and naturally ten and his friends met up to watch a late showing. he had felt amazing the whole night, no need to watch over his shoulder or try and avoid anyone. it had been bliss. until he got home._

_ten was greeted with silence when he had opened the door only to be met with the distinct smell of alcohol, a smell that no fifteen year old should be so familiar with. he wrinkled his nose in disgust as he approached the living room. the shape of a man was clearly visible in the dim lighting and as he got closer ten realized the closer he walked the stronger the smell. all of it coming from his worst nightmare._

_he had moved quietly, each step made with care as to not disturb the monster that awaited only meters away. he was so close, already to the base of the stairs when the floor had creaked. the speed at which rob’s head had whipped around terrified ten, freezing him in place. as rob stood up his alcohol consumption was clear: his movements were staggered and sloppy, his eyes unfocused yet filled with anger, his intentions unclear._

_his first move had been to slam ten into the wall, the air automatically leaving his lungs because of the force._

_“where have you been?!” the man’s hands were rough on ten’s shoulders._

_“i went to- to the movie with johnny and hendery.”_

_“sure you did. more like you took turns blowing each other in a car.” the color drained from his face. ten had knew that rob was a monster but he didn’t think it would ever go this far. rob bent his elbows, leaning closer to ten, trapping him against the wall with no way to escape. the nightmare seemed to last for days, his breath heavy in ten’s face as the teen tried to make himself as small as possible. but it was over as soon as it started, rob had grabbed his arm and yanked ten away from the wall, pushing him towards the stairs without another word._

_ten didn’t sleep that night._

➤➤➤ 

sweat. music. shoes squeaking on the floor. pain. those were the only things that yuta was able to process. everything else was white noise, forced to blend in with the shadows and disappear. 

_five, six, seven, eight-_

yuta’s alarm rang through the studio. “shit.” quickly they gathered their bags and raced to the dressing room to take a shower. his skin began to turn red as he furiously scrubbed all of the sweat and smell off of himself, the hot water only making it worse. they were out of the shower in five minutes flat, hair dripping wet and skin and angry red. in record time yuta was dressed in his uniform and leaving the studio. their breath was erratic and they ran to the educational facility, only stopping to maneuver around bystanders. 

at last he was able to reach the classroom, catch his breath and look as casual and unsuspicious as possible before all of his friends arrived. 

“yuta!” _not a moment too soon._

“hey, sicheng.” sicheng and yuta looked over as the door opened once again, this time revealing taeil. “taeil!” 

“hey, sicheng. yuta.” taeil greeted them with a smile and a wave. yuta merely smiled and waved back their constant underlying exhaustion holding them back from responding with the same overjoyed enthusiasm as sicheng. as soon as taeil sat down in his desk the bell rang signaling the beginning of class and the beginning of yuta’s much needed nap. 

the end of the school day is the real beginning to yuta’s day. it is then that he begins to wake up and take on the world. from homework to housework, they do it all, each minute spent just trying to lighten the overburdening load for their mother. he knew of the trouble that she went through paying for his schooling and everything else that he had ever needed. after all of that any time that is spared is immediately spent at the studio. 

“yuta,” their mom stuck her head in the door to the room, “what would you like for dinner?” tonight was one of the rare nights that he had not gone to the studio because of the amount of homework that had been piling up. normally they would have simply let it go but after what happened in high school they were never going to do it again-- especially with how much school cost in the first place. 

_it was the second week in a row that he had spent every night at the studio. every morning the teacher would come around asking for the assignment from the night before and every time yuta would simply shake his head, waiting for her to pass so that he could go back to sleep._

_“yuta? do you have your homework?” once again they shook their head. “you do know that with the amount of missing assignments you have i am obligated to call you parents, right?” that woke him up._

_“what do you mean?” the teacher sighed and crossed her arms over the papers she was holding, “it means that you have over a quarter of the work from this class missing and that has resulted in you currently failing this class. thus, i must call your parents.”_

_yuta looked at her pleadingly, “please just give me one more day. i’ll have it all in tomorrow.” nonetheless the teacher shook her head. “i can’t, yuta. i let this go on for far too long. i will be calling your parents as soon as the class is over.”_

_quietly, he opened the door to the apartment, “mom? are you home?” no reply. slowly they walked in, as they turned to shut the door, they felt a presence behind them. “yuta.” once again, he slowly turned, this time with a cautious smile gracing his lips as he faced his mother. “yes, mom?”_

_“your teacher called.”_

_“what for?” their voice was breaking and hers was steely. oh what a treat._

_“you see, that is the weird part. she claims that you are missing a quarter of your class work and currently have an ‘f’ because of it. i just couldn’t believe it though because i have never known you to do such a thing. so, yuta, dear, do you really have an ‘f’ in this class of your’s?” he chuckled nervously. “maybe i should remind you of the terms of our agreement: you are only to do dance if you maintain your grades.”_

_“of course! i will talk to her about it tomorrow, i’m sure it’s just a simple mistake. anyways, call me when dinner’s ready!” they ran out of the entryway and straight to their room where they had a pile of homework sitting on their desk waiting to be done._

_“yuta? are you awake?” there was knocking on the door to his room. as sleep dug its claws deeper into them, they did their best to let out a sound that would make sense but there was only failure. “yuta? come on, you need to go to school.” the claws loosened and he was able to make a louder yet still incoherent sound. “what did you say? yuta? i’m coming in!” they heard the sound of the door open before they were blinded by sunlight. another groan. “wake up! you will have to run to school at this rate.” at the mention of the word run, yuta sat up and looked at his alarm clock, “shit!”_

_“language!”_

_“sorry!” they yelled as they stumbled out of their blankets and into the shower. shortly after he was out and already in his uniform. as they ran to the kitchen to grab food before heading out the door, their mom stopped them. “do not think that i have forgotten about yesterday, child of mine. i’m trusting you with this, okay? i don’t want to take you out of dance but we had a deal, so keep up your half, okay?”_

_“yeah, mom, okay.”_

_“i love you, yuta. now get to school before you’re late.”_

_“love you!”_


	4. Chapter 4

if doyoung was ever asked if they hated their family, they wouldn’t know how to answer. their parents were at least somewhat decent people and generally kind but with some of their views, they just weren’t all on the same page. 

all throughout their life, doyoung was taught that being anything besides straight and male or female was “bad.” their parents didn’t think that was how god intended his creation to be and therefore felt no need to bother explaining that there were “other” types of people out in the world. 

they were so sheltered that they were ten when they met their first gay person. it wasn’t the best experience. meeting the actual person had been quite fun for them but it was what came before that was awful. 

_“෴, you’re aunt lives an… alternative  lifestyle.” _

_“what do you mean, mommy?”_

_“you’re aunt is into women. she doesn’t like men like she is supposed to.”_

_“is that bad?”_

the conversation went on and on. till this very day they still regret asking that question. all of the words that their mother had used in such a disapproving tone towards their aunt were ingrained in their brain. 

two years later was when they saw the news broadcasting protests fighting for same sex marriage. it had surprised them that it was illegal because in their mind love shouldn’t be illegal unless it was some old man preying on kids. they knew that was bad. 

at first they paid no mind because school was beginning to get harder and actually required studying. however, a few weeks after the initial broadcast, doyoung was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework while their parents sat in the living room watching the nightly news. 

_“why are they still fighting over this? god intended it to be adam and eve, male and female.”_

“the newest development is that trans men and women are now also joining the protest as well as others-” 

_“others. can you believe that? they have invented all of these dumb labels-- making things up left and right. it’s disgusting.”_

doyoung had listened to the entire conversation. every word that their father had uttered with such disdain and hatred. they couldn’t stand to hear such horrible things fall from the lips of such nice people so without another word doyoung picked up their homework and left the kitchen, heading to their room where they fell asleep wondering why the whole world seemed to be against love. 

after that night things went dormant and doyoung forgot what had happened. it was only after their fourteenth birthday that the problem arose again. 

_“what type of ridiculous country is this?! now we can’t even refuse to service these people? what happened to our freedom?”_

_doyoung was confused by their father’s words, “does that mean that if aunt joy came in with aunt wendy, you would refuse to make them a cake?”_

_“in a heartbeat and wendy is_ not _your aunt.”_

_“of course aunt wendy is my aunt. aunt joy and aunt wendy love each other therefore aunt wendy is my aunt. but why wouldn’t you make them a cake?”_

_“෴, we are not having this conversation. go to your room and finish your school work.”_

_“but dad-”_

_“go!”_

they never talked about it again. instead doyoung opted to do their own research, finding out all they could as to why their dad would say that not only was their aunt wendy not actually their aunt but also that he would never make them a cake. after hours of research, it made sense to them. their dad was homophobic. a horrible word for horrible people. 

as their research continued they learned more and more terms. their goal was to memorize two knew terms a day for a month. occasionally they would slip up or get a term mixed up with something else. it was when they were about their third week though (they were focusing on gender identities currently) when they read the definition for the word agender. 

they had read the term over and over again, each time unable to believe that they matched with something so well. it wasn’t that they had been actively searching for a new label but rather they felt as if being male wasn’t quite right but they had no desire to be female either. after their initial shock they began googling and researching as much as they could. reading about people who felt similarly to them. 

a few more months passed for them. they created an instagram account and used it to learn more. this continued for a while before they decided to try out being agender publically while also being able to educate those around them and possibly even make a friend or two. 

as they were setting up the account officially, they encountered a problem. _my name is d-o-y-o-u-n-g. why can’t you just-! you know what, fine. doi it is._

➤➤➤ 

jungwoo was indifferent to school. it wasn’t particularly good nor bad, just another part of their everyday life. a place where they just happened to waste eight hours of their life listening to “qualified” people drone on about subjects that held absolutely no relevance to their life. 

don’t get them wrong though, they still hated school just as much as any other teenager but that was only because it was school and if someone likes school there is clearly something wrong with them. they did have specific reasons for not liking that hell-hole: their lack of fellow lgbt+ people, the homophobic and transphobic slurs that were carelessly thrown around the halls and the ridiculous “i identify as an attack helicopter” jokes that were “funny” but those were just some of the highlights of their list. 

however, despite all of that, there were still things that never failed to make them smile. one of those things happened to be a junior who they shared math with. he was always nice and more than willing to help with anything that they didn’t quite understand or was unsure about. then there was the senior in his choir class. she had an amazing voice and was always encouraging anyone who was insecure about their voice. last was doi. they weren’t really at school but their whole lunch hour, jungwoo could just sit there and text them. it was their favorite part of the day. 

sadly for them, it was only eight in the morning and they had four very long hours to go. 

for some reason unknown to jungwoo, every class, teacher and lecture seemed even more boring and slow than normal. however, it’s not until there are only ten minutes left till lunch that their leg begins to shake in anticipation. words swirl around their brain as they wait. each sentence another idea of what they could excitedly tell or complain to doi about. maybe they could- 

_finally._

jungwoo shot out of their seat, backpack barely remembered as they raced down the hall and out into the courtyard. just as they were reaching their spot next to the fountain they began to take their phone out of their pocket. sadly, multitasking has never been their forte. inevitably they dropped their phone. it wasn’t until some else had reached down to pick it up that they were brought back to reality. 

“your phone.” 

“thank you. i’m so sorry you had to see that.” jungwoo was rapidly turning red from embarrassment. 

“it’s okay. we’re all a little klutzy sometimes.” the person in front of them checked their watch. “i’m glad i could help but i have to go. maybe we’ll see each other again?” 

before jungwoo could respond the other was gone. after that observation their brain began to function again. its first thought being a reminder. _doi._

“shit.” jungwoo hurriedly sat down and unlocked their phone. _no missed messages._ quickly they began to type, not wanting to miss a second more of the little time that they had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> doyoung's aunts are necessarily red velvet but you can go that route if you want


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo! i am back with more words
> 
> friendly reminder for pronouns:  
> tae, ten, yuta, kun: he/him  
> jun, yuta, woo, doi, myself: they/them  
> jun: she/her
> 
> disclaimer that most of the events described here have happened to either myself or my friends down to quotes from actual conversations just in case people these things don't actually happen ((:   
> and! this type of school, to my knowledge is entirely fictional. i am merely blending my favorite aspects of different schools together for my own entertainment purposes

renjun decided that they liked this new and strange person. as they were slightly ahead of the other two (full body stimming cannot be done on a sidewalk with two other people) they could tell that neither were talking. just as they were about to skip back and kill the awkward silence that had grown, she heard her brother begin to speak. “your accent and name, where are you from? korea?” they could hear the awkwardness dripping from his voice but still they held off on intervening- the curiosity in his voice and inside renjun to genuine to dismiss. 

the newcomer replied stiffly, “i, uh, yeah. my family just moved me here. how did you know?” taeyong eyed kun carefully. renjun was now especially amused. the two had been so caught up they failed to realize that renjun had stepped out of the way and was now quietly walking behind them- just as immersed in the conversation as they were. “americans aren’t always as dumb as they are said to be.” kun shook his head after a pause, “plus, junnie and i are both chinese- american and we grew up with quite a few korean- americans and your accent is similar to theirs. if you want we can talk in korean since the two of us know it pretty well.” 

with that response, taeyong visibly began to let their guard down. their voice immediately became more comfortable and natural as they agreed in their mother tongue. oh how renjun had missed the sound of korean. while both kun and them spoke the language their parents only spoke chinese. sadly, while the two did have friends that they could have spoken with, they had all long since parted ways. 

suddenly, taeyong realized something: “your name- there isn’t really any korean form. did you have a nickname?” knowing that their brother was slow and would not see the opportunity for what it really was, they answered for him. “it’s kun!” 

both teens stilled and slowly turned around; yet with vastly different reactions. kun was glaring and a look of _if i didn’t love you to bits- you would be dead right now_ apparent on his face. taeyong on the other hand looked confused and was clearly trying to figure out how the younger had gone from being a ways ahead to being directly behind. renjun addressed the easier topic: “while the two of you were suffering in silence, i stopped and moved out of the way as you passed before beginning to follow from behind.” 

not wanting to address kun, the youngest looked at the wrist where her watch sat, “also, if we don’t hurry up we are going to be late.” as they hoped, the mere idea of being late was enough to get the older two walking quickly towards the school. 

as soon as they reached the front of the school taeyong stopped and began to speak, “what classes are you two in?” renjun looked over at kun expecting him to respond only to see him still brooding about the name fiasco. “well, i’m in my first year while kun is a third year.”

taeyong nodded in understanding, “that would make us,” they gestured to kun, “in the same year then.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone was abled to enjoy!! if you see anything you think is strange or doesn't make sense, please tell me. i am editing this from being wrote over a year ago so i may be missing some things. if you have questions about anything or you just want to chat, feel free to comment!!


	6. Chapter 6

taeyong was glad that he got to meet both kun and renjun, the two were welcoming and helpful. despite him wanting to hang out with them for longer, all three needed to head to class. the youngest was the first to separate from their little trio. 

“so, um, what do you have first?” kun asked. 

“uh…” 

“you don’t have any idea, do you?” 

“no?” taeyong laughed nervously at the confession. “my parents had an advisor take care of everything because of the credit issues…”

“to the resource center we go then.” having said that, kun spun around and began down the hall in the opposite direction and, like a lost puppy, taeyong followed. 

“name.” 

“taeyong lee.” they had finally made it to the office but the lady at the desk clearly didn’t want to be there. 

“year.” 

“third?” his answer came out wobbly as he tried to remember.

“are you sure?” 

lucky for taeyong he had someone with him, “he’s in his third year.” 

“thanks, kun,” taeyong whispered. a nod was all he received as a reply. 

“here you go. room three- hundred and two. mr. lang’s class. and since the bell rang a while ago, notes for the both of you.” the not- so- nice office lady handed taeyong a manilla envelope and two slips of paper. “now get to class.” 

“thank you,” he said softly backing out the door and shutting it behind himself and kun. 

as soon as he turned back around, kun stuck out a hand. “schedule.” taeyong quickly handed over the envelope and watched as kun opened it and took out to pieces of paper. “here. this is a map. it may seem kinda dumb but you should read it.” the two stood in the hallway for a couple of minutes as taeyong tried to familiarize himself with the map he definitely should have gone over already. in his defense, he had been busy with things, like not memorizing this map.

“we have first and last period together. jun has last with us too.” kun looks at taeyong, “do you think you know where the class is?” 

“uh…” taeyong looks at the map again before pointing left. “that way?” 

“technically, yes, but if you ever want to actually make it to class you should go this way.” kun outlined the path on the map before pointing in the opposite direction. “it may seem longer but less people go this way which makes it a lot faster.” 

taeyong gestured towards the same hall kun had just pointed to, “lead the way.” 

“as you wish.” 

taeyong never thought he’d be this excited to go to a class, yet here he is. 

the only thing that had kept him a float the entire day was the knowledge of last period with not only kun but renjun as well. it seemed as if every class was meant to alienate him for they all decided that today was the day for partner activities. he thinks it would have been fine had the professors decided the partners but that had not been the case. so every class when the teacher said, “go pair up!” taeyong was left to sit in his desk and wait for whatever other loner didn’t end up with a partner. thanks, universe. 

but now it’s last period and none of that really matters. cooking. a class where he not only actually has friends but also can participate without his nerves making it sound like he had been speaking english for a handleful of weeks instead of years. 

“taeyong!” finally someone who can pronounce my name correctly! 

“hey, renjun. how’s the day been?” 

“same old, same old. i didn’t know you were going to be in this class though! because of that the whole day just got one- hundred times-” renjun’s eyes darted past taeyong towards the door, “kun!” 

“hey, junnie. taeyong.” while kun had greeted renjun happily, taeyong’s greeting was much more reserved. 

“hey, do you think the teacher will let us all be in a kitchen together?” 

“i don’t see why not, jun. we might have to have someone else with us but other than that it should be fine.” 

kun ended up being correct. they did have someone join them, a korean- american named johnny who neither kun nor renjun really knew. despite that he could speak korean and, to taeyong, that’s all that really mattered. 

“hey, you’re ෴, right?” though taeyong didn’t know the reason, he sensed that that was a bad question and immediately intervened. 

“um, kun is a lot easier to say while speaking korean so that’s what renjun and i have been using.” 

“oh, okay. sorry, kun.” 

“no problem.” 

➤➤➤ 

it was strange hearing someone besides jun call him “kun.” he wouldn’t say it was a bad strange though. it had this happy feel to it. it was as if he had been working at something for a while and everything resulted in failure but this very last time he had gotten in right. so yeah, a good kind of strange. 

however, kun was unable to be alone with his thoughts for long. “hey, taeyong, i know it’s your first day but you wouldn’t happen to know the other asian- americans that go here, would you?” 

“no, sorry.” 

“well, would you like it if i introduced you? most of them speak korean and english. if they don’t they speak fluently they have all of the basics covered.” 

“that sounds cool. thanks.” 

so we either lose him here or end up hanging out with that many more people. while kun didn’t see either option as the ‘right’ option, he knew one was better than the other. 

“johnny, taeyong, you wouldn’t mind if jun and i tagged along, would you?” 

taeyong responded immediately with a smile, “i was actually just about to ask if you two wanted to come.” 

the rest of the period was filled with small talk and things such as “please pass blank” or “knife” if someone was walking with the knife in their hand. as class ended the four were relieved to hear that they had completed the recipe and all of its procedures correctly, resulting in an automatic one-hundred percent. 

when the bell rang, johnny bid them a quick “goodbye” as he went to meet up with his aforementioned friends that he promised to introduce at a later time. 

while kun and renjun were still packing up, taeyong spoke, “are you guys walking home?” kun looked up at taeyong in interest, “yeah, why?” 

“i was just wondering if it would be okay to walk with you again.” taeyong spoke quietly as blush dusted his cheeks. “if you want to. jun would probably like it.” 

the wind blew lightly as they walked creating an atmosphere that would have been chilly had they not been wearing the appropriate clothes. renjun and taeyong were talking, while kun quietly played music through his earbuds. for the most part of their conversation he hadn’t been paying attention but rather thinking about the weird ways that taeyong had acted. _he can’t know. it’s impossible._

“-gay people?” kun stopped. the two walked a little ways farther before they noticed he was no longer with them. “hey, kun, is everything alright?” taeyong walked back towards him as he spoke. 

“what did you just say?” 

taeyong looked confused for a minute before answering, “i was just asking renjun about the school. more about how people work.” 

“no, what exactly did you say last?” kun was staring at him intently, ready to grab jun and flee at the first sign of danger. 

“i was just asking how the school-” realization dawned on his face. “i was asking what the school thought about lgbt people.” kun’s hands began to shake. “why?” as if taeyong could sensing his anxiety he spoke softly, “it’s really hard to find gay friends if the school is homophobic.” 

“you make a good point.” kun mumbled. “but it doesn’t matter so much as to how they seem as it does how they really are.” 

“and that would be where you make a good point,” taeyong replied breezily, “but they already don’t know me, might as well do it now.” 

“i’m sorry to interrupt,” jun spoke up, “but you said you’re gay, right?” 

taeyong smiled, “i, my dear friend, am a homosexual man. otherwise known as gay.” 

“oh, cool.” renjun’s nonchalance didn’t last for long, “did you hear that, ge? he’s like us!” taeyong watched at the realization as to what was just said dawned on both kun and renjun. it was no sooner than he blinked that renjun had gone pale and kun had gone red. 

“renjun, you are so dead.” at the sound of kun’s words renjun began to move behind taeyong, as if he was some sort of human shield. “pretty boy here isn’t going to be able to stop me from ending your life,” kun gritted out. 

“uh-” 

“not now, taeyong.” 

“but i was just going to say-” 

“come here, jun. it’ll all be over soon.” 

“you’re a guy, right? or at least not a girl?” silence fell upon them. the color quickly drained from kun’s face at the sound of his words. 

kun’s head slowly nodded a million thoughts racing through his head. “you’re right, i’m a guy.” 

“what pronouns do you prefer?” the words came off taeyong’s tongue smoothly as if he done this many times before and maybe he had. it wasn’t something kun would know. 

“‘he’ and ‘him’ would be great.” the response was followed by the biggest and most genuine smile kun had given to taeyong yet. the eldest quickly turned toward renjun not wanting to leave the youngest out, “and what pronouns do you prefer?” 

“‘they’ and ‘she’ are good.” taeyong smiled at the more relaxed siblings, “nonbinary?” renjun’s grin widened revealing a snaggle tooth that kun knew taeyong couldn’t help but find adorable on the younger, “you know it!” they finished off their answer with a pair of finger guns that made the older two chuckle. 

kun’s smile turned into a grin, _this was happiness. this was freedom. _


End file.
